Zara Shanaz

Healthcare Operations and Clinical Support professional with experience across healthcare, customer-facing and regulated environments, with a strong foundation in Biomedical Science and practical experience supporting patient-critical services across multiple hospital sites. Experienced in operational coordination, workforce support, supplier and stakeholder relationship management, investigations, reporting, inventory visibility and service continuity. Skilled in working with theatre teams, speciality leads, matrons, consultants, finance teams, procurement teams, external suppliers and territory representatives to resolve operational issues, maintain clinical service flow and support safe, effective service delivery.

Brings a strong progression story from customer-facing retail and pharmacy exposure, through regulated fraud investigation and emergency call handling, into NHS administration and healthcare operational leadership. Recognised for taking initiative beyond core requirements, including developing reporting visibility for senior stakeholders, coordinating repair and replacement pathways, supporting workforce processes and proactively identifying solutions to complex service issues. Well suited to roles across healthcare operations, clinical support, med-tech, territory support, sales associate and customer-facing healthcare environments.

Sterile Services Team Leader - Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust

(2025-02)

• Support day-to-day operational delivery within a patient-critical Sterile Services function across three hospital sites, ensuring continuity of service, timely instrument availability and compliance with Trust policies, governance standards and operational requirements.
• Provide day-to-day workforce support for an allocated staff group, including annual leave management, sickness processes, rota coordination, staffing concerns, wellbeing discussions, performance conversations and development reviews (PDRs), working alongside another Team Leader while retaining responsibility for an allocated section of the team.
• Coordinate workforce requirements across multiple sites, supporting safe staffing levels, service continuity and effective allocation of resources during annual leave, sickness absence and short-notice cover requirements.
• Act as a key liaison between Sterile Services, theatre teams, theatre managers, matrons, Band 6–8 stakeholders, scrub practitioners, speciality leads, procurement teams, finance/accounts departments, external sterilisation providers and supplier representatives.
• Work collaboratively with speciality leads and clinical teams across Trauma & Orthopaedics, ENT, Urology, Gynaecology, Gynae Oncology, General Surgery, Plastics, Laparoscopy, Endoscopy, Cardiology, Radiology, Neonatal, Labour and Maternity services to support clinical requirements and maintain instrument availability.
• Coordinate end-to-end instrument repair pathways, ensuring repair requests, requisition documentation, decontamination certification, collection arrangements, supplier communication and return timelines are accurately managed and followed through.
• Build effective working relationships with supplier representatives, territory managers and senior supplier contacts, proactively monitoring repair turnaround times, escalating delayed items, obtaining expected return dates and identifying solutions to minimise disruption to theatre activity.
• Coordinate replacement and ordering processes for damaged, missing and discontinued instrumentation, working with speciality leads and suppliers to identify suitable alternative products, confirm compatibility and support informed ordering decisions before implementation.
• Use Oracle to support purchasing activity, including raising purchase orders, receipting deliveries, tracking order progression and liaising with procurement or finance teams to resolve issues relating to orders, receiving and invoices.
• Use SynergyTrak to support inventory visibility, track missing instruments, review service reports, monitor loan kit activity and maintain oversight of items moving between theatres, Sterile Services and external sterilisation providers.
• Investigate missing instruments and tray discrepancies by liaising with theatres, scrub teams, matrons and external sterilisation providers to identify whether items are missing internally, held externally, available for repatriation or require replacement/reimbursement activity.
• Develop and produce operational and expenditure reports for matrons, managers and senior stakeholders, providing visibility of repair spend, damaged items, missing instrumentation, replacement costs and equipment trends across separate hospital cost codes.
• Support loan kit visibility by monitoring expected arrival and return activity, keeping relevant teams informed and ensuring theatres understand required turnaround times for external sterilisation processing.
• Raise and support incident reporting where operational risks, health and safety concerns, missing equipment or service issues require escalation, ensuring appropriate governance routes are followed.
• Support recruitment, shortlisting, staff training, competency development and service improvement activity, contributing to a culture of accountability, quality and safe practice.

Senior Administrator - Birmingham Women's & Children's NHS Trust

(2023-12 - 2025-02)

• Provided senior administrative and operational support to consultants, clinicians and multidisciplinary teams within mental health services, supporting smooth service delivery and continuity of patient care.
• Coordinated MDT meetings, allocation panels, clinical reviews and associated documentation, ensuring information was organised, accurate and available to relevant clinical stakeholders.
• Managed patient pathways, appointment scheduling, clinical records and correspondence, supporting timely communication between clinicians, services, patients and wider teams.
• Produced accurate clinical correspondence using audio typing and shorthand skills, maintaining confidentiality and accuracy in line with NHS governance and information handling requirements.
• Supported under-25 mental health services through scheduling, documentation, administrative coordination and communication with clinicians to support effective service flow.
• Developed strong organisational skills by managing competing priorities in a sensitive healthcare environment where accuracy, confidentiality and clear communication were essential.

999 Call Handler (Agency) - BT

(2023-08 - 2023-08)

• Handled emergency calls in a high-pressure environment requiring calm decision-making, active listening, accurate information gathering and clear communication.
• Worked in line with strict procedures while prioritising information quickly and professionally during sensitive and potentially urgent situations.
• Strengthened ability to remain composed under pressure, communicate clearly and follow process accurately in time-critical circumstances.

Fraud Consultant (TFO) - TSB Bank

(2022-03 - 2022-09)

• Conducted transaction monitoring and fraud investigations within a regulated banking environment, applying risk controls to protect customers and the organisation.
• Completed security verification checks before accessing customer accounts, ensuring compliance with internal procedures and data protection requirements.
• Managed sensitive customer conversations involving financial risk, fraud concerns and account security, maintaining professionalism, accuracy and empathy.
• Built transferable strengths in investigation, attention to detail, compliance, questioning techniques, risk awareness and handling difficult customer interactions.

Retail Assistant - Primark

Approx. 3 Years

• Developed strong customer service, communication and problem-solving skills within a high-volume retail environment while balancing employment alongside academic studies.
• Supported cashier duties, shop floor maintenance, merchandising, stock replenishment, stock control and inventory-related activity in a fast-paced team environment.
• Built early experience in customer engagement, teamwork, reliability, workload prioritisation and maintaining service standards during busy trading periods.

Additional Experience - Various

Pharmacy Assistant | Property Management (Freelance) | Trainee Assistant – Lex Autolease

BSc - Biomedical Science - Coventry University (2023-11)

RQF Level 3 - Biomedical Science - Aston University Engineering Academy

GCSEs - Heartlands Academy